Belle Vue Colts v Berwick Bullets

Report

BELLE Vue had three unbeaten riders in a 61-29 win over Berwick in their NDL opener – as the visitors suffered two injury setbacks.

Sam Hagon marked his Colts debut with a 15-point maximum and fellow newcomer James Pearson was also unbeaten with 14+1, whilst skipper Jack Smith added 11+1 from four rides.

But the Bullets were reduced to five riders with Archie Freeman suffering a broken leg in the first race after his machine slowed off turn four and he was unavoidably struck by team-mate Connor Coles.

Meanwhile Mason Watson came to grief in Heat 7 and was withdrawn with a slight concussion – and their problems did not end there as skipper Greg Blair blew an engine whilst reserve Josh Embleton missed his final ride after suffering burns to his leg.

Smith said: “Obviously we send our best wishes to Archie after his accident. He was one of us at Belle Vue last year and to see him in pain wasn’t nice, so I hope he recovers soon.

“The rest of the meeting, as a captain, I think I expected this team to be strong at home. I mean, I knew that Steve (Williams) and Graham (Goodwin) wouldn’t put together a 1-7 that wasn’t strong at home.

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect from some of the new boys but I’m happy with how everyone chipped in, and both Sam and James were pretty much perfect.”

Bullets manager Gary Flint said: “There was no way back after losing Archie and Mason so early in proceedings. It’s such a shame for Archie, who had gated really well but seemed to slow dramatically leaving Connor nowhere to go and he basically ran over his leg. It was the impact which caused the damage rather than the fall.

“Initially Mason seemed to have recovered pretty well from his Tai Woffinden impression into the third bend fence, but he came to me in the pits saying that his vision was a bit blurry.

“We’ll take no chances with head injuries, so that was him out for the meeting and for the next nine days.”

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
BELLE VUE 61: Sam Hagon 15, James Pearson 14+1, Jack Smith 11+1, Freddy Hodder 9+1, Matt Marsen 5+2, Paul Bowen 4+1, Luke Muff 3+1
BERWICK 29: Danny Phillips 9, Connor Coles 8, Jamie Halder 5+2, Josh Embleton 4, Greg Blair 3, Mason Watson 0 Archie Freeman 0

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Photo credit: IAN CHARLES